In less than a week, Vancouver Craft Beer Week will descend on the region. What does this mean? It means that all your favorite local breweries (as well as tons more from the region, the U.S., and even Europe) will be in town from May 18-26, 2012 to provide us (the public) with a sample some of their scrumptious brews. For a schedule of events, click here. Some events have already sold out, so don’t delay too long.

My husband and I will definitely take part in the festivities, and we may even create our own event with friends: a potluck beer and food tasting in the sun!

Here are a few of our favorite brews and brew/gastropubs in the region:

A perfect place for a cold beer after a long day in downtown Vancouver. The space is small, so visit early or call ahead. Rotating draft of 8 craft beers featuring regional varieties, large selection of bottled beers, and small plates.

This post is long overdue. For our 2010 New Year’s celebration, my husband, two friends, and I piled into my friend’s Honda for a little road trip to Asheville, NC to see The Avett Brothers in concert. Armed with a fabulous list of restaurants we headed to Asheville ready to take on the local music, food, and fabulous microbrews.

For those of you thinking about going to Asheville in the near future, these were some of our favorites places:

My husband and I just got back from a trip to Hawaii. Since we only had 6 days, we decided to stay in O’ahu for the entire length of our trip. We had the opportunity to explore many of the flavors and sights of the island. We stayed on the North Shore of the island in the town of Waialua with my husband’s brother and his fiancee and traveled throughout. As a food systems planner, I was quite interested in the local food system and sustainability policies of the island. Both Slow Food O’ahu andLEAF HAWAII: Solving hunger and poverty one farm at a time provided a nice overview of the local food and sustainability scene and historical context for the social, economic and environmental opportunities and problems Hawaiians face today. Below is a brief overview of our discoveries. For a map of restaurants recommended by Slow Food O’ahu, click here. Also, check out Edible Communities Hawaii Islands for additional information about the food system and a list of farmers’ markets in O’ahu.

NORTH SHORE

On the North Shore of Hawaii, we stopped at the Kahuku Land Farms stand to try some fresh, local pineapple, coconut, tangerines, and small bananas:

WAIMEA VALLEY

In our visit to Waimea Valley, we learned about pre-contact Hawaii’s land division system. The ancient land division system created wedged-shaped, self-sufficient units of land, called ahupua’a, which extended from the mountains to the sea and therefore provided all the basic necessities: food, shelter, cloth and medicine.

As LEAF HAWAII explains, “Each ahupua’a contained the resources the human community needed, from fish and salt, to fertile land for farming taro or sweet potato, to koa and other trees growing in upslope areas. Villagers from the coast traded fish for other foods or for wood to build canoes and houses. In this way, the community maintained a sustainable lifestyle. Through sharing resources and constantly working within the rhythms of their natural environment, Hawaiians enjoyed abundance and a quality lifestyle with leisure time for recreation during the harvest season of the year.”

Unfortunately, this land division system is no longer practiced, and Hawaiians face a range of social, environmental, and economic challenges, such as poverty, health disparities, air and water pollution, and obesity. Organizations, such as LEAF HAWAII, are working to restore more self-sufficient and sustainable ways of life. According to a recent report, Island of Hawaii Whole System Project, “Hawai’i is one of the nation’s most fertile places. Yet only 15 percent of all food sold on the island is grown locally.”

The pictures below are of a community garden plot for children in Waimea Valley:

Sweet potato (‘uala) is one of the primary, local foods of Hawaii. Below is a picture of one of several sweet potato species:

We had no idea how many varieties of pineapples exist. Smooth Cayenne is the predominant variety in Hawaii. So the next time you buy a Dole Pineapple, that’s a Smooth Cayenne.

WAIKIKI, HONOLULU

Our friends John and Greg insisted we visit Eggs’n Things, a very popular all-day breakfast place in Waikiki, a neighborhood of Honolulu. We ordered an omelet and Hawaiian pancakes. The omelet was good, but nothing special. For anyone thinking about visiting this restaurant, we recommend splitting the Hawaiian pancakes, and forgoing anything else on the menu. The pancakes were light and fluffy and came topped with chopped pineapple, coconut, macadamia nuts, and whipped cream. This is definitely a sweet dish, but delicious. Try it sprinkled with a little coconut syrup. Ono!

LOCAL BREWS

A trip to Hawaii wouldn’t be complete without a sample of some of the local beers. We sampled Kona Fire Island and Longboard, Kaua’i Golden Ale, and Primo Lager. All were quite tasty, but our favorites were Kona Fire Island and Longboard.

CHINATOWN, HONOLULU

Rex and I found the cutest BYOB restaurant in Chinatown, Little Village Noodle House. We would recommend the Mu Shu Roll and Panfried Turnover with parsley and turnip filling. We ordered the Seafood w/ Mixed Vegetable Fried Noodle, but found the dish too salty and had too much cornstarch in it.

Mu Shu Roll

Panfried Turnover with Turnip and Parsely

Seafood w/ Mixed Vegetables Fried Noodle

HALEIWA, NORTH SHORE

Haleiwa is a fabulous little surfer town on the North Shore of the island, and home to the only Patagonia in all of Hawaii. We tried several restaurants in Haleiwa, but our favorites included Haliewa Eats Thai and Banzai Sushi Bar. We recommend the Panang Curry with Tofu and Pineapple Curry with Tofu over brown rice at Haliewa Eats Thai. Both were delicious! We recommend the special Ahi roll with soy paper wrap – yum!

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Last weekend my cousin got married in the beautiful, romantic city of Montreal. As a kid, I grew up visiting Montreal every summer, where my Polish grandparents – Babcia and Dziadzio – lived. I can remember walking with my sister and Babcia to the small grocery store at the end of the street to pick up fresh bagels, bread, yogurt, cheese, and other food items to complement the deliciously fresh produce from Babcia’s backyard garden. Every meal was homemade and scrumptious. Breakfast always included some type of fresh fruit, homemade jam, and fresh bread. For lunch I can remember eating raw, sliced radishes, Polish coldcuts, cucumbers, tomatoes, cheese, and bagel sandwiches with some sort of Polish soup – potato or cucumber. For dinner Babcia would concoct some type of Polish meal – cabbage rolls; kasha, beets, and meat; stew; pierogies; or some other yummy, hearty food. My sister and I would often be given the chore of picking raspberries, strawberries or some other fruit from the garden for dessert. Of course we would eat everything we picked, and come back inside, empty handed but with bright red lips, tongues, and fingers and try to convince Babcia that there were no more berries on the bushes.

While I have such fond memories of Montreal, it’s been wonderful to explore the city as an adult. My husband and I have had the opportunity to visit the city twice in the last 4 years. The first time we stayed in the English section of town and this past time in the French section. The city is walkable and bikable, has an amazing public transportation and subway system and an amazing arts and culture scene. We definitely ate and drank well, walked everywhere, and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

While biking around Montreal, we had the opportunity to visit a community garden. Unfortunately everything had already died, but we were impressed by its size and number of composting bins and the view of the Olympic Stadium in the background. For more information about Montreal’s extensive community garden system, click here.

A quaint, cozy cafe in a converted corner row house in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighborhood. The sandwiches are huge and delicious and come on fresh bread made down the street at a small bakery. Highly recommend the carrot and apple sandwich – delicious. Save room for dessert and coffee!

This small, cozy cafe shares space with Vélo Québec – a non-profit cycling member-based organization that has been defending the rights of cyclists since 1967. Try the coffee, chai tea, biscotti, and other baked goods. This makes the perfect pre- or post-pit stop for a day of biking on Montreal’s bike sharing program – Bixi.

A great, local bagel chain. If you’ve never had Montreal bagels, you’re in for a treat. This bakery/restaurant serves up tasty bagel sandwiches, salads and soups and offers options to-go, including a dozen bagels.

Corner Stores | Integrated into all neighborhoods throughout Montreal

There is no shortage of healthy foods in Montreal – or at least in the neighborhoods we ventured to. It seems like there’s a corner produce shop or market on every other corner. Here are some pictures of a few of them.

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In preparation for the 2009 American Dietetic Association Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo, my friend Kelly teamed up with some Denver locals to put together a list of restaurants in Denver and surrounding towns that feature local, seasonal and sustainably grown food. A map of these restaurants can be found at: http://tinyurl.com/eatsustainabledenver.

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Last week I traveled to Denver, CO for a work related trip. I wasn’t sure what to expect, and was pleasantly impressed by the city. From the network of community & urban gardens, trails, pedestrian bridges, and other bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure, to the amazing selection of microbrews and restaurants. Considering how difficult it is to find good, scrumptious food while on the road, I’ve decided to expand the scope of my “seasonal culinary journey” to include my culinary and food system experiences in other parts of North America.

Saturday morning, I woke up early to attend a field trip of Denver Urban Gardens (D.U.G.). Below are a few pictures from 2 different sites: Atlantis Community Inc. (a community center in Denver for people with disabilities) and Fairmont School. Unfortunately, the weekend prior, Denver had its first frost of the winter season, so all the beautiful vegetables, except for a few winter greens, died.

Atlantis Community Inc.

Fairmont School, Denver

Winter Greens, Fairmont School, Denver

After spending some time exploring the local Denver food system, I had the opportunity to try several delicious microbrews. My favorite included: Avery Double IPA, Avery Dougana, Great Divide Brown Ale, and Russian River Damnation. For more information, check out the beer page. I highly recommend grabbing a beer or two at the Falling Rock Tap House. They have over 50 regional microbrew beers on tap.

Sunday, I made it out to Denver just in time to grab lunch at The Kitchen, a fabulous restaurant in Boulder, CO that features locally produced produce and meat. Each day, the staff updates a large blackboard with information about growers and producers in the region that provide the restaurant with ingredients. The Kitchen is quite expensive for dinner, but decently priced for lunch. I recommend the portabello mushroom sandwich – delicious.

Other great restaurants I tried while in Denver include: Lola, Osteria Marco, Sushi Sasa and the Wazee Super Club. Everything I ordered was delicious. Try the roasted vegetable chile rellenos at Lola, the beet salad and mushroom panini at Osteria, the dragon roll at Sushi Sasha, and a pizza with sun dried tomatoes, pesto, and chicken at Wazee Super Club.

For more information about The Kitchen and other great restaurants, check out the restaurant page.

Last spring, I collaborated with several organizations and individuals living in the Twin Cities area to create a local food system guide for visitors. I visited several of the restaurants – my favorites appear on the restaurant page.